The invention relates to an apparatus for obtaining plug samples of materials for the purpose of measuring the physical and/or chemical properties of the sample.
In the development of industrial products, it is important that the quality and properties of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished materials used in final products be known. Basically, the sample of the material is removed from the main body of the materials being used, and the properties of the sample are measured. When the material to be tested is a solid, a piece of the material must be cut loose from the main body of the material. Because of safety issues, it is preferred that tools such as razor blade, knives, and other cutting objects not be used for obtaining such samples.
One prior art apparatus commonly used to obtain a plug of sample comprises a hollow tube, which is pounded into the material to be tested to cut loose a sample, which breaks off in the end of the tube to form a plug. Such a plug can be provided in a form that can be used directly in many kinds of tests. Although relatively safe to use, such a tool has the drawback that the plug, once jammed into the end of the tube, is difficult to remove, and from a man-hour standpoint, the obtaining of such samples is very expensive.
It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus that makes easier, simpler, and cheaper the obtention of a sample of material from a solid body of raw material, intermediate materials, or finished materials. Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims.
An apparatus for obtaining a plug of material for testing comprises (a) a housing (24) having a cutting end (12) and an anvil end (22), (b) a ram (18) contained within the housing (24) and, (c) a collar (20) disposed over an outside surface of the housing (24), the collar (20) having a non-fixed relationship with the housing (24) and a having a fixed relationship with the ram (18). The housing (24) may contain a spring loading means (26,26a) associated with the ram (18).
In one embodiment, a spring (26) is in a surrounding relationship with said ram (18), and in an alternative embodiment a spring (26a) is loaded within said housing (24) in cavity (40) of anvil (22).
The collar (20) is associated with the housing (24) through a pin (28) which passes through holes (34,34) in the collar and through slots (32) in the housing (24).
In the illustrated embodiment, the housing (24) comprises an upper portion (27) and a lower portion (25) which are connected to each other by mechanical means (19). The lower portion (25) has a resting flange (21) which provides a compression point for spring (26). The housing (24) has an endless cutting end (12) and an anvil end (22). The housing (24) may have a grip (15) in proximal relation to the anvil end (22).
Also provided is a method for obtaining a plug of material for testing the properties of the material comprising the steps of (a) providing an apparatus having a housing (24) having a cutting end (12) which has a endless cutting edge, (b) driving cutting end (12) into a substrate (14) thereby forming a plug (16) of substrate, (c) causing a ram (18) within housing (24) to move in the direction of plug (16), thereby forcing the plug (16) to be removed from cutting end (12).